Lolita 52 Challenge: How Satisfied I am with my Current Wardrobe

Hello everyone! Today I'm back with another topic from the Lolita 52 Challenge: How satisfied I am with my current wardrobe. Let's get started!




 So I kinda waited to write this until a few weeks prior to it posting to make sure I wouldn't have to entirely rewrite it a few months down the road. So you can reasonably assume that this post is up to date for the time being as I have zero money to spend on wardrobe additions right now... Currently, I feel like I have a pretty good base wardrobe in Lolita and J-fashion. I have enough pieces I could probably put together a different Lolita outfit for every day of the week and still have each one be somewhat unique (a challenge I've considered to be a good goal for a basic Lolita wardrobe). As for J-fashion, I've been able to put together two weeks worth of outfits in the past and I know that I could easily do the same now as well. So for workability, I feel my wardrobe's in pretty good shape.




 In terms of items I don't know how to coordinate and pieces that don't suit my style anymore, I did a bit of a closet cleanout several months ago with my Gothic clothing and realized I didn't want to wear the majority of it anymore. I still have some pieces I'm dithering over and some I've yet to reassess for both J-fashion and other styles. I also have a lot of fabric and half-made pieces lying around my crafting area waiting for me to get back to sewing that I need to assess if they're still something I want to make and own.


 I still have a plan of items I wish to add to my wardrobe, but I feel like I have a fairly decent basic wardrobe that's lacking a little bit in cold weather items such as gloves and tights. I would like to add more to my Lolita and Fairy Kei wardrobes so I can have more variety to work with and have less similar looking outfits or having to change clothing plans because both of my cutsews are in the hamper all the time. So I'm generally happy with my current wardrobe, but still want to add a lot more pieces to it.


Do you feel satisfied with where your wardrobe, J-fashion or otherwise, is at? Or is it a huge mess that you can't wear any of? Let me know in the comments!




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I Have Nothing To Wear!

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to be talking to something that happens to many of us all too frequently: Looking at all the clothing strewn about one's room after trying on a bunch of different items and going: "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!" This is a bit of a follow-up to my wardrobe building series of posts (Part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4) since I've had plenty of time to build a new wardrobe. I recommend you read them first if you haven't already, since they're the foundation for this post. Otherwise, let's go!

 So I said I had plenty of time to build a wardrobe, right? So why am I saying I have nothing to wear now? Well ya see, there's this thing called changing seasons and not planning ahead because who wants to buy a sweater when it's so hot and humid you don't want to even think about leaving your nice, air conditioned room? So, thanks to my planning, I was able to build a very nice Spring and Summer wardrobe, but now the weather is turning and I have no idea what to wear anymore. So what's a fashionista to do?

#1: Re-evaluate your style preferences.
 Alright, so maybe you had the perfect, pastel Fairy Kei wardrobe for warmer weather. Do you want to keep wearing pastels in Fall and Winter though? Or do you want to indulge your inner Goth or rockstar and switch things up completely? It's time to go visit the mall or thrift store and try on everything you can again. I would suggest avoiding buying anything the first few times or keep purchases small and limited to things you already wanted for your wardrobe. If you want to try wearing a different style from what you already own, try to limit your purchases to main pieces that aren't too expensive so you aren't impacting your budget too heavily. *cough*totally did that*cough* Try wearing the new style you're trying for a few days in a row using what you have and any additions you got to see if it's really something you want to wear that'll make you happy.

Here's what happened for me: I have a very cute, pastel versatile wardrobe based around Fairy Kei for the Spring and Summer. When the weather started getting colder, I decided to start wearing Goth fashion more to go with the changing colors of fashion. However, I found myself still wanting to wear my Fairy Kei outfits more than Goth or jewel toned items. I've decided I want to start wearing Lolita more often due to its built in layers as well as ease of layering underneath as well as some warmer Fairy Kei based outfits with some off-white pieces mixed in.

#2: Decide what additions your wardrobe needs.
 Now's the time to go through your wardrobe and pull out all the out-of-season clothing you've been hiding away. Can you make your new style plans work with what you already have, or are you going to have to sell off all your sweaters or shorts and buy new ones? This is a good time to evaluate condition as well as if it fits your wardrobe, so if you have an item that's got a ton of holes and snags that aren't supposed to be there, now is the time to throw it away or fix it. (If you have a sweater that's just shrunk in the dryer, you can stretch it back out with some work. I found this tutorial extremely helpful when recovering a cashmere sweater.) Make a list of any items you feel you need to make your wardrobe more complete and wearable during the changing seasons.

 Since I'm keeping my wardrobe mainly pastel, but still need to stay warm, I decided to talk to some of my fashion friends in the area and see what they do to stay warm as well as re-watch Lovely Lor's Lolita Fashion in Extreme Weather video for ideas. I decided I needed some layering pieces as well as some patterned statement pieces (my wardrobe's mostly solid color), a long sleeved blouse, and some comfy, yet cute shoes that will survive snow.

#3: Go forth and buy.
 Now's the time to start buying the additions your wardrobe needs. Try and get more basic or generic pieces from places like Target, Walmart, or thrift stores (or your country's equivalent) in order to have more money to spend on the main pieces. Probably most of us don't have the money to go buying 1000 bucks worth of Angelic Pretty dresses new, so look into less expensive alternatives. There's a lot of US and international sales groups on Facebook, you just have to search for the type of fashion you're interested in along with sales. (In addition, if you're already in a few sales groups, Facebook will suggest some similar groups in the side bar while you're browsing that group.) Lace Market, eBay, and Storenvy are some good places to look for used or less expensive pieces and there's always Bodyline for inexpensive pieces.

 I want a couple statement pieces with prints, but I very much do NOT have $400 to drop on used Angelic Pretty or Baby the Stars Shine Bright dresses, so I'm considering a couple Bodyline JSKs as well as searching through Lace Market for some less expensive pieces. I also want a long sleeved blouse and colorful socks which can also be found on those sites. I've already got one short sleeved blouse on the way which, even though it's not great for Winter, is something I've been wanting to add to my wardrobe since my current short sleeved blouse is a bit big on me.

 I hope you all have fun with dressing for the changing seasons and that I've given you some ideas to help avoid over-spending!

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Selling Clothes: My Experience

For selling off old Lolita dresses and accessories, it's obvious one should go to the EGL forums or a second hand store online such as Closet Child ("No WAY am I donating a $200+ dollar dress!"), but what about ordinary clothing such as jeans and T-Shirts? What do we do if we want to sell those? Well I've been trying to sell some of my old clothes that are still in good condition and here's what I've tried and found!

~Commission Stores~
 So, one of the first things I tried to do with my old clothing was take a bag full down to a store called Plato's Closet. They buy your old clothes and sell them at really inexpensive prices. Well, I ended up walking out with the same bag of items minus one or two things I'd recently bought. And since they sell the items so cheaply at the store, they don't pay much.

Verdict: This sort of shop is great if your clothes are the current "in" style that you can find in stores. Just don't expect much if it isn't a big brand!

~Swapdom~
 This online service seemed like an awesome idea at first. Got stuff you don't want? We can help you trade it for something you do! Even if you don't want something Person A has to offer for it,  if Person B has something you want and wants something Person A has, you can still trade! Horrible explanation there, I know. Pretty much it's a trading service that allows people to form a big trade ring so that everyone gets what they want, even if Person A and Person B don't like the other's items. The first thing I noticed about Swapdom was it's shipping costs. Even if you just want to get something small like a pair of leggings, the shipping often is way more than you would actually want to spend on the item.

Verdict: Good for larger items where you'd expect to pay more, but not so much for clothing!

~Tradesy~
 Overall, Tradesy seems like a cool site. Post your items, they clean the cover image and send you a free shipping packet when it sells. Cool! So who wants to buy my stuff? *crickets* Uhm, can I at least see who all's looked at my stuff or who likes it? *Tradesy* Nope. Sorry. Free shipping packet though!

Verdict: Great idea, but I have yet to sell ANYTHING despite lowering my prices multiple times. I don't even know if anyone's looked at them... From what I can tell, you're more likely to have success on this site selling big brand name items like Prada or Coach.

~Poshmark~
 I'll be honest here: I haven't really used Poshmark yet. When I signed up for it I didn't know you had to have a smartphone to be able to sell anything on it. At the time, I didn't have a smartphone, but I do now, so I might give it a try. It seems to be aimed more at selling brand name items like Tradesy, but so far all I've gotten is a bunch of emails telling me how I seriously need this random (probably expensive) brand I've never even heard of.

Verdict: Requires a smartphone. Haven't used it.

~Vinted~
 Like Poshmark, this site also works on smartphones. However, unlike Poshmark, it's not smartphone inclusive. It has a full site that you can easily sign up through and post clothes through. When I got my smartphone, I decided to give this service a try and I must say, I LOVE it! I've been on five days now and I'm already selling items! Unlike Tradesy, Vinted makes it easy to see how many people have viewed your items as well as see who's "favorited" them. Communication with potential buyers is as easy as clicking the message button on their profile. All users also have a rating given to them by other users who buy from them. Selling items is just as easy. I have the app on my phone, so I just throw my items on a dress form or a hanger, take a few pictures using the app, crop them, put in details, and shezam! Item's up and ready to be sold! When you're item's sold you simply print out a label, put it on a box with the item inside and you're good to go!

Verdict: This is a great site! Easy to use, very user friendly, and easy to sell items. Great for selling any sort of clothing be it a prom dress or a T-Shirt.

Hope this article has been helpful for all of you lovely people and I hope you all have a wonderful day and good luck selling your old clothes!

Check me out on Twitter: @animelolitacouture
Raid my closet! User ButterflyChan on Vinted.

Steampunk on a Budget

So, Instead of putting together a outfit this time I decided to put together some of my favorite Bodyline items for starting a Steampunk outfit with. Unfortunately, the Victorian styled weapons an other cool trinkets are still your own to find, but with the help of Bodyline you can get a starter outfit and even a pocket watch necklace if you so choose. So, beginning from number one, here are my top 10 starter Steampunk items from Bodyline.

#1 Victorian Dress and Hat

 The thing I love most about these are the very evident Victorian feel they both have to them. I love the design of the sleeves as they allow the contrasting white fabric to show through as well as the lace accents on both the dress and the hat. I like that the dress comes with a matching hat which saves the trouble of fining or making one.

#2 High Collared Blouse

I like the mandarin collar on this blouse as well as the pin tuck and lace details. The frills and details keep it feminine, but it's still a nice, simple look that can easily be worn by itself or under a vest or jacket.

#3 Rose Heart Necklace

I love the delicateness of this necklace as it is intricate yet simple with the shape of the rose and the picot stitching in the outline of the heart. The crystals add anice little bit of sparkle to the necklace as well.

#4 Top Hat

It may just be me, but what's not to love about a nice top hat? Because it's a fairly plain hat, adding on gears, wings, or what have you to match your outfit is easily accomplished without having to work around already present decorations.

#5 Pocket Watch Necklace

Out of all the pocket watch necklaces Bodyline carries, this one is my favorite. I love the roman numerals around the time piece on the outside cover as well as the flower motif on the back. There's a few watches similar to this one, but I like that this one has decoration on the bow as opposed to just a plain one.

#6 Lace-up Boots

I love the style of these boots as they remind me of the button up boots that were more common in Victorian times. The available colors are simple making it easy to get one pair that will work with a host of outfits as opposed to matching the outfit to the shoes. The zipper on the side makes for easier removal and putting on of the shoes.

#7 Layered Corselet Skirt

I like how the layers on this skirt add body without making it overly frilly or cutesy. The high waistline, reminiscent of a corselet or underbust corset in its design, adds a nice, elegant touch to the skirt in my opinion. The main thing I dislike about this skirt is that is only available in black, limiting the range of outfits that could be made with it.

#8 Underbust Corset

I love the lace detailing on this corset as well as the double breasted buttons on the front. Overall I think this is a very elegant and lovely corset.

#9 Knickerbockers

These are some nice trousers for female or male Steampunk wearers that are elegant and simple. They appear to have pockets, which can be handy for hiding cell phones and other items that are necessary, but not Steampunk.

#10 Ruffled Blouse

This is a nice blouse with a jabot and sleeves that can be worn either short or long, depending on the weather. I like the lace accents on the blouse as it adds more elegance to it.

And that concludes my list of the top 10 Steampunk items available on Bodyline. Feel free to leave comments below saying what your favorite item is from this list or what you think of the various items. I'm on twitter now! @animlolicouture

Lolita on a Budjet: Hime Lolita

Who doesn't want to be a princess at some point in their life? As girls, many of us dream of being a princess and with Hime, or Princess Lolita we can make dreams reality! Hime Lolita is definitely a extravagant style, so it can be fun to wear on occasions when one feels like going the extra mile to look glamorous. Perfect princess hair and makeup is only part of the look, and here I'll show you an affordable Hime Lolita look using items from Bodyline! This outfit costs $114 to $167 plus shipping and handling.

The base of a Hime Lolita look is always an elaborate dress. I feel that this pink flared sleeve dress is perfect for the Hime style and it's got the added benefit of removable sleeves, making it so you can wear it as a Sweet Lolita dress as well. And what outfit is complete without a great pair of shoes to go with it? These ribboned heels are pretty and cute and give you an extra boost of height for that added confidence as you stroll along. I felt that a pair of lacy tights would work best with this look and was pleased to find that Bodyline! offers cute bow patterned tights. For that extra touch of glam, a pair of pink lace and bow nails is just the perfect touch. And for icing on the cupcake, put on a cute flower headpiece that is elegant and cute. Or you can glam it up and get a tiara, which unfortunately can't be gotten from Bodyline!, but can be easily found at stores around Prom season. Not everybody has perfect Hime Lolita hair or the time to do their hair up, so if that's you you can also get a Hime wig from Bodyline! in just about any color you want! I hope you enjoy this Hime Lolita outfit.

All of the items in this outfit plus more in this style can be found on the Bodyline website. No pictures due to the fact that I haven't received permission to use Bodyline!'s images. Check me out on Twitter.

Lolita on a Budjet: Gothic Lolita

 Gothic Lolita is the first Lolita style I tried and today is one of my favorites.The one thing I dislike about Gothic Lolita is that it lacks bright colors, so I enjoy wearing other styles of Lolita as well. For this Gothic Lolita outfit I chose to do an outfit that's mainly black with white accents to keep the outfit from looking too dark. For those that prefer an all black Gothic or Kuro Lolita, I'll do an outfit later on for that style. This outfit costs $120 plus shipping and handling. Let's go!

The most important part of any Lolita ensemble is, of course, the dress or, in this case the jumper. For this outfit I chose a ruffled jumper that comes with a matching katayusha, or head bow. I love that this jumper's cute yet inexpensive and that it comes with a head bow as well making for even more savings. For a blouse to wear under the jumper, I felt that the ladder race blouse in white would be the best since it allows one to wear the sleeves long or short making it a very versatile blouse. Since it's a white blouse it can also be used with many ensembles or by itself with a pair of jeans if you want a casual but cute look for every day wear. I thought that over the knee socks would look best with this look, but a cute pair of lacy white tights could be substituted for a more mature look or to keep your legs warm in winter. I love how cute all of Bodyline's shoes are and these are no exception! The triple bow shoes in black are very cute and I love the little heart shaped clasps on them. To top it all off, I thought that adding a few cute rings would be nice. My favorite ones are the black crystal rose and bow rings. Now add a petticoat and a pair of bloomers and you're good to go! I hope you enjoy this look and look forward to more in the future! Bodyline! is always adding new items, so there's sure to be more looks in this and other styles in the future.

All of the items in this outfit plus more in this style can be found on the Bodyline website. No pictures due to the fact that I haven't received permission to use Bodyline!'s images. Check me out on Twitter.

How to Make a Petticoat: Simple Ruffles

Hey everyone! Today I'm going to be showing you how to make a simple ruffled petticoat with some regular fabric. This petticoat is fluffy enough to give your skirt some puff without being overly warm during spring. Let's get started!

This tutorial contains a lot of pictures, so if you have a slow connection you might want to stop the page from loading completely and load the pictures separately as you get to them.

Here's what you'll need:

• Fabric - Amount will vary depending on measurements; White is best for color
• Waistband elastic - Length will vary depending on your waist size
• Thread to match your fabric color
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Cutting board
• Pins - A pincushion will make them easier to use
• Sewing machine or needle and thread if you're going to hand sew it
• Iron and ironing board for pressing seams
• (optional) T-square or other long straight edge for drawing straight lines 

To star with, here's the basic concept I used for designing the pattern I used.

Since my original petticoat using this fabric had turned out rather bulky around the waist, so I wanted to try making a petticoat with a non-floofy waist to try to prevent this. Since my skirts mostly end about knee length, I wanted my petticoat to be about the same length.

Let's start measuring! To start with, you'll want to decide where you want the floof to start (such technical terminology, I know). Measure from there to where you want the petticoat to end (see illustration below). It helps if you have a friend for this, but you can just have the end of the tape measure hanging down about where you want the end of the skirt and read it from the top.

Write this measurement down. Now for a little calculation (not much! I promise). Divide your measurement by how many layers you want. More layers means more floof, but I wouldn't make them too narrow or they'll be hard to gather and sew together. I'll be presuming you're doing three layers in this tutorial. I made my petticoat 3 sections at 6.5 inches tall each, but you can make them a bit shorter or longer depending on the length you want your petticoat. Make sure to add a little extra length for seam allowances and due to the floof causing slight loss of length. Mine ended up around 4 inches shorter than my measurements.

Now let's measure the waistband length. Measure from where you want the waistband to start, usually the waist, to slightly past where you want the floof to start (see image below). Add an inch to an inch and a half to this measurement and then double it. Write this measurement down.

 

Now that you've determined the length of the sections and the waistband, we'll need to do a few calculations to determine how much fabric you'll need. The sections for the floofy part should be 25-30 inches long, so a 60 inch wide piece of fabric would be better than a 45 inch wide piece. I used the remaining half of a sheet I'd used for my first petticoat which measured about 50 inches wide. You'll need 12 rectangles worth of fabric plus enough for your waistband. Since the fabric will be doubled over, you only need 6 sections worth of fabric lengthwise. Add this measurement to your waistband length measurement to determine how much fabric you'll need (example below).

Actual results will vary (1.5 yd, not 15yd)

Once you have your fabric, make sure to wash it first on the same settings you'll use once you finish the petticoat. This preshrinks the fabric so you don't have to worry about it shrinking on you after it's done. Iron it all out then lay it out on a cutting board folded in half widthwise (selvages together). Using your tape measure, mark every six and a half inches, or however long you want your sections to be. Make the marks little arrows pointing at the measurement on the tape. (Ex: v) Mark out six sections like this, then use a T-square or long flat edge to mark out straight lines at these points (see image below). Cut them all out on the lines you made, then cut each of the sections in half. (Leave the fabric folded in hal after cutting the sections to make this a little easier.) You should now have twelve sections that are the height you wanted and about 25-30 inches long.

Time to pull out your pincusion! Pin the short edges of three of the sections together making a circle. Repeat with four sections, and then the remaining five. Make sure that the right sides of the fabric (side with printing on it if you have a print) are all facing inwards (see image below). These are going to be the layers of your petticoat. Press the seams open before moving on to the next step.

Sew the edges that you pinned together. Make a small hem on the layer with 5 sections. This will be the bottom of your petticoat. Sew gathering stitches on the top of all of the layers. Gather the bottom layer to fit to the base of the layer with 4 sections. Sew them together, then repeat to attach the middle to the top layer (See image below). Make sure the right sides of the fabric go together and not the wrong sides.

Now for the waistband. Take your measurement from before for the length of your waistband, measure it out on your fabric, draw a straight line, then cut it. Measure around the fullest part of your hips and add two and a half inches to that. This will be the width for your waistband. Err on the side of caution and cut the waistband down to a bit bigger than this measurement. Pin it where you'd put the seam, then check to make sure it will fit over your hips. Once you've confirmed that it does, you can cut off any excess fabric from the width, leaving enough for the seam. Fold the waistband in half lengthwise and sew a tube at the top wide enough for your elastic to easily fit in. Leave a little wiggle room in the tube to make sure the elastic won't be getting folded down. Sew the ends together, making sure to leave the ends of the tube on top open so you can put the elastic in later. Gather the top edge of the skirt to match the waistband then sew them together. Again, be sure to put the right sides together. I messed up here and had to take the seam out and do it over again.

Now for the last step: putting in the elastic waistband. Measure your waist to get an idea of how much elastic you'll need. Depending on the stretch of the elastic you buy and how tight you want it to be, the amount of elastic needed will vary. I recommend slightly stretching the elastic around your waist to the point where it is a little tight, but not so tight it'll leave a mark once you take the petticoat off. Be careful not to use too much elastic as it will pretty much be useless if you do. Attach a large safety pin to one end of the elastic, then insert it into the tube, pulling it along to the other end of the tube. Pin the loose end of the elastic to the edge of the tube to make sure you don't have it go inside. Once you've fed the elastic through, pin the sides of the tube together with the elastic sandwiched between and sew through all of the layers. I recommend hand sewing on this part as elastic can be a little difficult to sew on a machine.

Now your petticoat is done! Here's some pictures of how mine turned out:

Without Petticoat

With Petticoat

Let me know if you have any questions about this tutorial and also how it turned out for you. All pictures taken by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Lolita on a Budget: Punk Lolita

Punk Lolita is probably my least favorite Lolita, but that is mainly due to the fact that I'm not especially good at putting together punk outfits. Also it's partly due to personal preference since I prefer more cute styles of clothing. Here I've done my best to put together a Punk Lolita outfit using clothing from Bodyline! exclusively. The total for this outfit is $142 plus shipping and handling. Let's go!

The asymmetrical skirt, in blue and black, is one of my favorite parts of the outfit as I like the way that the blue underskirt stands out from the black over skirt. The blouse was a little difficult to decide on, but I eventually found one that I thought would work nicely. This ruffled vampy blouse  in off white is very elegant, but still works for a punkish look. To add a bit of color to the top I chose to use this dark blue ruffled pin at the neckline of the blouse over the ruffle. For a slightly Gothic feel, I decided to pair the outfit with a pair of spiderweb print tights, but a pair of lacy black tights could be substituted as well if spiderwebs aren't your thing. My next favorite part of this outfit is the shoes, chunky heels with chain accents. I love how these shoes retain the more innocent look of the mary jane shoes while having a punk accent with the chains and little skull charms on the backs. The last item is optional: take a couple chous or scrunchies in black and put them around the top middle part of your upper arms as sleeve garters to add a bit more color to the blouse. Alternatively, one can buy or make sleeve garters instead of using the chous. If you don't mind spending a little more, you can also get some cute skull accessories from Bodyline! to match the ones on the shoes. I hope you enjoy this outfit!

All of the items in this outfit plus more in this style can be found on the Bodyline website. No pictures due to the fact that I haven't received permission to use Bodyline!'s images. Check me out on Twitter.

Thrift Store Find: Sweet Lolita Skirt

Whenever I visit a thrift store, I like looking through the linnens section to see if there's anything that would look cute as a dress or a skirt. A while ago I found some curtains with a very cute print and ruffles along the edges, so I bought them and made one of them into a skirt. The skirt turned out a bit longer than the ones on my other Lolita dresses, but it's a very nice skirt. I don't wear it very often mainly due to the fact that I don't have a blouse that works well with it. I found one that works alright as long as I pull the skirt waistband down around my hips though. I plan on turning the second curtain into a blouse once I find a pattern that I like.
 I'd run out of waistband elastic at the time I made the skirt, so I instead used a ribbon I had lying around. It turned out very nicely.

All images were taken by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Poll for Blog Content

Hello everyone!
 I've decided to do a little poll to try to find out what my current readers and any potential readers would like to see more of. To vote, simply leave a comment below. This specific poll will close in two weeks time, April 24th 2013, so I would appreciate it if readers would avoid posting comments after that date. Without further ado, here's the poll!

What would you like to see more of on Anime & Lolita Couture?

• Cosplay tips.
• Lolita looks on a budget.
•  Recipes for cakes and other sweets.
• Tutorials such as for hair and crafts.
• My home made clothing.
• Reviews of clothing and items I have.
• My various cosplays. (I don't have many cosplays to my name as of now.)
• Other stuff. (List your ideas in your comment please!)

 Make sure to leave a comment below telling me what you'd like to see more of. Thanks for your feedback!

Thrift Store Haul: Loliable Clothes

So, I've been going to thrift stores a lot lately and have been having a lot of luck finding cute new clothes and things. This time I'm blogging about some cute Loliable clothing I found. I love my Lolita dresses, but unfortunately they're a bit too formal for everyday wear, so I've been expanding my wardrobe to include cute casual skirts and blouses that I can wear on a daily basis. This trip I got a new blouse, skirt, and short sleeved cardigan.

The blouse is a very pretty Gothic Lolita like blouse with a mandarin collar and delicate lace accents. The blouse itself is made of a very thin material, so it's best worn with an undershirt or sweater during chilly weather. I really love the lace on it as it ads a pretty touch to the blouse without standing out too much.

The skirt is very cute. It has a nice eyelet type pattern to it giving it both texture and detail. It's got multiple layers which give it a nice little poof and add a level of cuteness to it. My main dislike of this skirt is the waistband, which is wide elastic. This makes it so that the skirt is a bit uncomfortable to wear at times and also makes it so the skirt slides up a bit as the elastic tries to rest on my waist. Other than those slight annoyances, it's a very nice skirt.

 

The cardigan is a very nice color and works very nicely with my new skirt and a lace camisole. The pockets are deeper than they appear which surprised me at first. They're big enough to comfortably hold a smaller cell phone, but the weight of the phone makes the pocket droop a little bit so it's visible from under the bottom edge of the cardigan.

All images are by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Lolita on a Budget: Wa Lolita

 Wa Lolita is one of my favorite styles of Lolita clothing. The cute kimono styled dresses, geta sandles, and traditional Japanese accessories all add to make it a style that is a lovely combination between traditional Japanese clothing and the ultra cute Lolita style. Today I've put together an ensemble featuring Bodyline's cute and inexpensive clothing. The total for this outfit is $115, not including shipping and handling. Here we go!

 

The Kimono dress is definitely one of my favorite Wa Lolita dresses that Bodyline offers. It comes in multiple colors allowing for different looks to be achieved, but I like the blue one the best since it reminds me of cupcakes. n_n I felt that the over the knee socks would look best with this dress since it ends slightly above knee level. Unfortunately, Bodyline! does not sell geta sandals, but they have plenty of cute Lolita shoes that would work well with this outfit, especially the blue and off white ones. The small flower pins Bodyline! sells are very cute and simple as well as cheap allowing for one or more to be bought to adorn hair as well as modded for use as a bracelet or other accessory. The pink ones match the best with the one on the dress. For an accessory, I thought that the Neko purse was a perfect mix between kawaii and the Japanese style. The drawstring allows for a more traditional Japanese look as well as allowing it to be worn around the wrist.

All of the items in this outfit plus more in this style can be found on the Bodyline website. No pictures due to the fact that I haven't received permission to use Bodyline!'s images. Check me out on Twitter.

Mini Cherry Tophat

About a year ago I became the very happy owner of one of Miss Carlyfornia's miniature tophats. The design on this one is a bit of whipped cream topped by a cherry. I absolutely love how realistic the whipped cream on Miss Carlyfornia's hats look, and this one is no exception. Every time I wear this hat I have someone comment "Your hat looks delicious." or "I thought you were wearing a cupcake on your head." I really love this hat and enjoy wearing it with my dress from Miss Carlyfornia as well as any other Gothic Lolitaesque outfits I wear. Here's some pictures of my hat:

Front and side views

And on my Gothic Lolita Teddy

I love all of Miss Carlyfornia's work, but I have to say her cake hats are one of my favorites. I'd been wanting to buy one ever since I first saw them, but never had the chance to get one as they tend to sell very quickly. I was very lucky to get this one as it was the last one she had available at the con I got it from. One of my favorite cake hats that I've seen by Miss Carlyfornia was a larger top hat that was completely frosted like a cake with little swirls of whipped cream topped by cherries on the top. If cake hats are your thing, then I'd highly recommend getting one from Miss Carlyfornia if you can.

Miss Carlyfornia can be found both on Twitter and on Facebook. All pictures are by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Thrift Store Haul: New Petticoat

Recently I've been having good luck at my local thrift store. This time I was shocked to walk in and see a black petticoat hanging on the wall! I gave it a try, decided it fit well enough and got it really inexpensively. I was very happy that I had found such a nice petticoat at a good price. And then I decided to try it on under my Gothic Lolita dress and found that real petticoats are VERY poofy. It was also quite a bit longer than my skirt. So I tried it on under a longer skirt that I had made, which it barely fit under. and saw how it gave me a very poofy skirt that looks like I'm wearing a hoop skirt underneath it. Needless to say I have never owned a real petticoat before, just ones that I made myself out of old sheets and bed covers. All the same, I'm happy with my purchase and look forward to finding or making a longer skirt in the Gothic Lolita style to wear it with.

All images were taken by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Thrift Store Haul: Sewing Project Supplies

Recently I went thrift store shopping at some local stores. Turns out I was pretty lucky! This post is about the supplies I got for making more Lolita clothing for myself. It's always fun looking through thrift stores. You never know what you can find! This is just a little bit of the things I've gotten from thrift stores in the past. Here's what I got (minus one item since I neglected to take pictures before I started sewing):

In all I got several yards of eyelet lace and a white Eyelet fabric, a bit over a yard of lace elastic, and a new zipper to replace one in a cute skirt I got a few years ago. It was all very inexpensive, especially the eyelet lace which is usually very expensive at craft and fabric stores. Here's some closer pictures:

I'm planning on using both the lace and fabric on a new dress. Now I just need to find a pretty light blue fabric, decide on the design, and get some patterns to make it!

The lace elastic is very pretty. It's a bit too thin for using in skirts or fabric petticoats, but it's nice for sleeves and light weight petticoats.

I intentionally got a zipper that was a bit longer than I needed, so I just cut off the extra before sewing it in. Unfortunately I cut off a bit too much so now I need to put a hook and loop at the top of the zipper.

I'll make sure to do an entry once I make the dress I'm planning on with the lace and fabric. All pictures were taken by me and that's me wearing my skirt. Creative cell phone camera mounts and timers FTW! If you wish to use any of my pictures, please receive permission from me first. Check me out on Twitter.

Gothic Lolita By Miss Carlyfornia

So, a few years back I decided to buy a dress from Miss Carlyfornia after working with her on my Senior Project. At the time I commissioned my dress from her, I also decided to buy a cute Gothic Lolita pinafore. She was able to make me a very cute Gothic Lolita dress that allows for a wide range of sizes meaning that I don't have to worry about growing out of it as long as I don't go putting on a few hundred pounds. (I like food, but not that much fortunately.) The dress only took a few weeks for Miss Carlyfornia to make before I was able to go pick it up. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. The fabric is all cotton, making it comfortable to wear and keeping it from being overly formal. I love the fact that the dress is very versatile. The style of the dress is very nice allowing for one to wear the dress four different ways, forward with or without the skirt gathered up or backwards either way. The dress looks great any way you wear it whether by itself or over a blouse, with or without a petticoat. My favorite part of the dress is the eyelet fabric used for the under skirt. It's very cute and delicate along with the eyelet lace keeping this dress from looking overly dark.

 Overall, I feel that this dress was well worth it as it has lasted me several years with semi-frequent wearing. All of the seams have held up just fine as well as the ribbon, lace and fabric used for this dress. Just about every time I wear it I get complements on how cute it looks, even in non anime crowds. If you can, I highly recommend getting a dress from Miss Carlyfornia as they are inexpensive and very cute. Last but not least, here's some pics of the dress!

Miss Carlyfornia can be found on Twitter and Facebook. All pictures are by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Home Made Pajama Pants

A while back I decided to make myself some pajama pants using some Hello Kitty fabric  I had left over from my Hello Kitty lawn chair that my parents made for me years ago. I used the bloomer pattern I had gotten from Miss Carlyfornia that I've used several times in past projects. I'd run out of waistband elastic, so I used some pretty white ribbon I had laying around instead. I plan on making a button hole modification on them later so that the ribbon can come out of the front instead of flipping the bow over the top of the pants like I currently do. Here's some pictures of them!

Lolita on a Budget: Bodyline Clothing

 Not too long ago, I discovered a very nice, inexpensive online store to buy Lolita from. Bodyline has many different types of dresses, most for under $100, along with blouses, shoes, and lots of different accessories. They also sell some cosplay costumes too as well as wigs, making this an excellent place for beginner cosplayers, as well as those on a budget, to buy from. Many girls into Lolita can be found wearing Bodyline clothing such as Living Doll Venus Angelic. She can be seen wearing the Bodyline polka dot dress in her Real Life Anime: Kawaii Cupcakes video that she made a few months back. I have yet to order from bodyline, but I look forward to increasing my Lolita collection with their cute affordable pieces in the future. Look forward to outfits I've assembled using Bodyline clothing that can be purchased for less than the price of a brand name dress!

My new Cloud Cosplay

For those of you who are Final Fantasy VII fans, you will most likely recognize Cloud as the main character in the series. For those of you who aren't Final Fantasy VII fans here is a description of the character:
 Cloud is the main character in the Final Fantasy VII series. He is a former member of SOLDIER, the army in the game, and now works as a mercenary who works about any job. At the beginning of the game Cloud is hired by a rebel group called AVALANCHE that works to undermine a large corporation called Shinra Inc. that is monopolizing all of the power in the world. As the game progresses, Cloud is caught up in a struggle to prevent all of the energy being sucked out of their planet. Cloud's weapon, usually called a buster sword, is a giant sword taller than he is, and he must use it to battle many enemies during his adventure.


For those of you familiar with the series and those of you who have looked up pictures, you are probably expecting an epic soldier-like cosplay. I will admit, it is pretty good, but it's not Cloud's usual outfit. For my Cloud cosplay I chose to do his outfit from Wall Market when he was infiltrating Don Corneo's mansion. For those unfamiliar with the game, at one point fairly early in the game Cloud has to dress up like a girl to get into the mansion of Don Corneo's, the mayor or equivalent in that area, to rescue his childhood friend Tifa and gain information that is crucial to Cloud's quest. Cloud was all for just breaking in, but Aeris, a flower girl he met earlier in the game, suggested that Cloud dress up as a girl so that the two of them could get in and rescue Tifa. Before they could do this though, Cloud has to talk to multiple characters to obtain items such as a dress and a wig to be able to dress up as a convincing girl.


So I've posted some pictures of my outfit at the end of the post so you can see how it turned out. I made all of the outfit except for the boots and that is my real hair, not  a wig. The Cloud face isn't my real face. Finding references for this outfit was a little difficult since the graphics in the game are not the greatest, but I was able to modify and combine patterns that I have to make the dress look the way I wanted it to. I had to come up with a pattern for the sash and the flared part of the sleeves on this outfit and am very pleased with how they turned out. The puffed sleeves look adorable and the skirt turned out to be just the length I wanted it to be. The sword in the last picture was made by one of my friends out of cardboard and duct tape. Please tell me what you think of my new cosplay!

Cosplay Tips 3

Hello all. This will be a continuing series of tips and suggestions I have for cosplayers and anyone interested in cosplaying or just dressing up for Halloween. I'll try to do a few examples if necessary for each of these posts. So, without further ado, here is

Cosplaying tip #3: When to Wear What Cosplay

I chose this topic for my cosplaying tips because of one of my friends. In my last cosplay tip I mentioned that I had altered a hoodie for a friend's cosplay. My friend wore that cosplay costume to a convention at the end of summer and got a case of heat prostration because of it. To help avoid this happening to others I chose to write this post as a tip and a warning.

DON'T WEAR COSPLAY COSTUMES WITH SWEATERS OR HEAVY JACKETS DURING SUMMER.

The main exception to this rule is if you plan on being inside an air conditioned building that is NOT overly crowded. Another cosplayer I met who was cosplaying as Death the Kid from Soul Eater at that convention was mostly hanging out in a less crowded part of the convention and highly recommended against doing a photoshoot in the desert in the middle of summer in a Death the Kid cosplay.


Another recommendation I have is to avoid wearing shorts, thin clothing, and other summer weather clothing at conventions taking place during winter or fall. The original shirt I had for my cosplay costume for Liz Thompson from Soul Eater was made from and old pair of stretchy pajama pants. As ingenious as this shirt was, I was freezing cold outside. And it was worse when I wore the same shirt with shorts for my cosplay costume for Patty Thompson, Liz's twin sister from Soul Eater. If you do wear shorts or a short skirt for a cosplay costume during cold weather, I highly recommend you wear pink or tan tights, depending on your skin tone. Not nylons, tights. Tights tend to be thicker than regular nylons and I frequently wear a pair of footless or convertible tights under my jeans when it's cold outside. They work very well for insulation without being too thick or bulky. One of my dance teachers used to take her old tights and convert them into a shirt by cutting off the feet and cutting a hole in the crotch for her head to go through. If you do this, I recommend using clear nail polish on the edges to avoid runs in the tights.